A CAR ploughed into five vehicles before crashing into the front garden of a house today.

Residents in Rock Lane East, Rock Ferry, Wirral, were woken shortly after 5.15am when the Renault Laguna crashed into a string of cars, finally coming to a halt in a garden.

Police believe a girl was driving the car, which hit a Ford Escort and a Rover 820 before skidding to the opposite side of the road and hitting a Vauxhall Cavalier, another Ford Escort and a Rover 75.

The driver and two passengers - another teenage girl and a male youth - fled the scene before emergency services arrived.

But they had all suffered minor injuries and were arrested by police at nearby Highfield Road South.

The three, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were taken to Arrowe Park hospital.

The girls are believed to be twins. Residents said their father visited the scene to inspect the damage this morning.

Supermarket worker Linda Neagle, 38, who owns the Escort and the Rover 820, said: "I heard a screech and then a bang while I was asleep and then a flash of light woke me up."

Her daughter Leanne, 15, added: "I thought it was a car crash happening in my dream.

"We all ran downstairs to see what had happened. It was chaos because all the neighbours had come out and nobody could see what was going on."

Anita Holland, 37, a business administrator and owner of the Cavalier, whose partner Phil Baker, 45, owns the Rover 75, said: "The noise was tremendous. I thought it was a plane crash.

"I ran to see if my kids were okay. "Outside, one of the girls in the car was dripping with blood and drifting in and out of consciousness. "The other two were walking away holding her up."

Firefighters also attended the scene of the crash amid fears of an engine explosion.

A spokeswoman for Merseyside police said: "The suspected driver, a juvenile female, has been arrested on suspicion of unauthorised taking of a vehicle and the passengers, a male and female youth, have been arrested in connection with other motoring offences.

"They are still having medical treatment and will be questioned later today."